The handbook will be a useful guide to explain the disciplinary process and details the changes that have taken place over the last few years – including match based discipline, sanction guidelines, the whole game system and changes to handling discrimination. This year’s guide also includes videos and resources that will go into greater depth to explain the disciplinary process.

Videos:

Introduction from Mark Ives, Disciplinary Manager

Eligibility of Players in Fixtures

Who is responsible for ensuring Players are not suspended before they play?

Wrongful Dismissals

Why have the new RESPECT sanctions been introduced?

Player Insurance

What to expect when attending a County FA hearing

Whole Game System

What steps are The FA Taking to improve handling of discrimination cases?

There is also a Leagues section to provide guidance for administrators regarding the Powers and Duties of the League.

Chairmans Checklist

The Chairmans checklist is a useful aid for County FA Commission Chairman to ensure that all the necessary processes have been correctly followed. It can also help Participants understand the general format of their hearing. It should be noted that this document is just a guide and not compulsory so Commissions may adopt varying approaches. You can download this from the documents section below.

Sanction Guidelines

UPDATED FOR 2016-17 - download from resources section below.

In 2011 The Football Association decided to implement a Sanctions Guideline document to improve consistency across all Associations in the application of sanctions. This document will serve as a useful guide and will enable Participants to have an awareness of likely sanction should the case against them be found proven. You can download this from the documents section below.

Attending a Hearing

There may be occasions when are you are asked to attend to a County Disciplinary Hearing – either as a Player charged with misconduct, or attending as a witness to misconduct, or as a Match Official giving evidence.

The FA has produced a series of guides to help prepare you for the Hearing and let you know what to expect covering topics such as:

What should I bring with to the hearing?
What should I wear?
Can I bring witnesses with me?
How long do Personal Hearings normally last?
What happens if I am not happy with the result of my Hearing?
Procedures for young people
These can be downloaded from the resources section below.

Respect Charges

Over recent years The Football Association have been promoting RESPECT visibly both on and off the pitch with the aim to reduce the bad discipline, increase and promote good behaviour from Players, Clubs and all individuals who are involved in the game.

To assist with this change a new charge has been introduced which will affect Clubs at Steps 5-7 and outside the National League System called ‘RESPECT’, which will be an automatic charge raised by the County should a team receive 10 or more yellow/red cards in a season for Dissent or Foul & Abusive language.

The table below provides further details on the sanction that will be imposed when if the thresholds are to be exceeded by a team throughout the season. To clarify that the only discipline that counts towards the charge are cautions for dissent and sendings off for foul and abusive language:

The FA Rules and Governance website

The Rules and Governance website will help provide a better understanding of the role of The FA's governance department and governance of the game in general. The purpose of the site is to enable everyone involved in the game, whether with a league or club, as a player, match official ,or as a spectator, to have a better understanding of the role we all play in the governance of the game. Click here to access site.

Wrongful Dismissals

Changes have been made to permit wrongful dismissal claims at Steps 5-7 and below without having to submit video evidence as we understand that not all games at these levels are filmed. However, we do require that the match footage is submitted when available to help demonstrate that the Referee made an obvious error in dismissing a player.

The deadlines for appeal and submitting evidence have also been amended to be more beneficial for Clubs operating at Steps 5 to 7 and below – appeals will still be heard before any suspension is due to commence.